Independent, adorable, and not actually domesticated, foxes are one of the cutest wild mobs in Minecraft. Whether they're nose-diving into snow or stalking chickens, these mobs have tremendous personalities. It's such a shame, then, that they can't actually be tamed.
Don't worry, that doesn't mean you can't keep one around as a pet! Foxes have a unique "trust" mechanic that, when activated, will effectively tame them. Trusting foxes will follow you, leave your other mobs alone, and even fight to protect you.
In this guide, we’ll share everything you need to know to earn a fox's trust, alongside mods that let you go beyond the vanilla rulebook.
How to Get a Fox to Trust You
The key to gaining a fox's trust is to be the reason they exist. That is to say, you have to breed two foxes together. The resulting child will then register you as their one and only "trusted player." Foxes have a handful of special behaviors with their trusted player:
- They follow the player they trust.
- They won't run away when the player moves quickly.
- They won't attack passive animals like chickens.
- They will attack any mob or player that harms their trusted player.
They will continue to behave like a normal fox otherwise, especially with other players.
A Brief Look at How to Breed Foxes
Foxes, like most breedable mobs, can be encouraged to have children by feeding two of them their preferred food. For foxes, that food is either sweet berries or glow berries.
Foxes are easily startled, so you'll need to sneak-walk to approach them without them running away.
With that in mind, follow these steps to breed a trusting fox baby.
- Collect two sweet berries or glow berries.
- Find a pair of foxes in their natural biome.
- Crouch/sneak up to each fox and feed them a berry. You'll know it worked when hearts appear above them.
- Watch the two foxes interact for a moment. The baby fox that trusts you will spawn nearby.
Where to Find Foxes
Generally speaking, foxes spawn in taiga biomes. But there's one catch: There are two varieties of fox, red fox and snow fox. Each one spawns in different variations of the taiga biome.
Red foxes spawn in these biomes:
- Taiga
- Old Growth Spruce Taiga
- Old Growth Pine Taiga
- Taiga Mountains
- Giant Spruce Taiga Hills
- Taiga Hills
- Giant Tree Taiga Hills
While snow foxes spawn in these biomes:
- Grove
- Snowy Taiga
- Snowy Taiga Hills
- Snowy Taiga Mountains
Foxes always spawn in groups of two to four, so you'll always have enough foxes nearby to breed them together.
Minecraft Mods That Add More Foxes
While foxes add some unique interactions with the wildlife in Minecraft, big-time fox fans might want a little bit more. An amazing way to expand both the number of foxes and how much they do is through modding. There are tons of community-made mods that give foxes that extra bit of love they deserve. These are some of our favorites.
Outfox
If you want a bit more utility from your vulpine friends, the “Outfox” mod not only introduces several more varieties of fox, but gives them a job to do as well.
Tamable by feeding them raw rabbit, these fox varieties can be shown a specific ore block. It will then sniff out the nearest naturally generated ore nodes. Bring them with you into a cave and dig into whatever wall they stop at to easily find the ore.
Flower Foxes!
Tired of running around looking for a fox? Grow one at home, then! A more fantastical take on taming foxes, the “Flower Foxes” mod introduces a cute and colorful mob that actually grows from a seed!
These special fox varieties start as seeds, growing into pods, and then into one of multiple styles of flower fox, based on which biome they were grown in. They even come with a whistle to make them sit.
Animal Garden - Fennec Fox
The “Animal Garden - Fennec Fox” mod adds a new mob called the Fennec Fox. This fox largely behaves like all the regular foxes out there, but with a few key differences – they only spawn in deserts and sleep throughout most of the day. They also look incredibly adorable, can pick up and carry items with their teeth (or munch on edibles to restore their health), and can even follow you around if ordered!
How to Install Minecraft Mods
You can install the above mods automatically using the CurseForge app or manually by placing the mod files within your game’s mods folder. Both methods allow you to easily add custom features and enhancements into your vanilla Minecraft experience.If you want to learn more, you can read our detailed guide on how to install Minecraft mods.
Common Issues and Quick Fixes
My trusting fox ran away from me while exploring
While a trusting fox will generally follow you anywhere, they will always retreat from encounters with wolves and polar bears. If they ran off and you aren't sure why, it most likely means one of those mobs is nearby.
This doesn't include tamed wolves, however, just wild ones.
Why is my fox carrying something?
Foxes will pick up stray items on the ground. This is harmless behavior and is nothing to be worried about.
They will also collect food on their own, like picking them from sweet berry bushes. If the fox holds onto that food item for 30 seconds, it will eat it.
My trusting baby fox ran away from me
While a trusting fox will follow you, baby foxes are also programmed to follow their adult parents. If you startle the adults away, it might follow them instead.
Have a lead on hand, and use it on the baby as soon as it's born. Then, distance yourselves from the adults before untethering it.